A landlord who crammed 16 people into a four bed house in Wembley, London, has been fined £6,000 pounds for failing to licence the property and for failing to comply with fire safety measures.

The property belonging to Mohammed Mehdi Ali was found to have inadequate smoke alarms or mandatory fire doors, as well as dangerous overcrowding and cramped conditions.

Mr Ali failed to attend court and in his absence was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,318 and a victim surcharge of £170 – a total of £7,488.

Cllr Harbi Farah, Brent Council’s lead member for housing, said: “Given the serious overcrowding and poor fire safety in this house, we could easily be reflecting on a much more serious crime here.

“The contempt Ali has shown for this legal process by not even bothering to turn up for sentencing speaks volumes.

“The vast majority of landlords and lettings agents in Brent are honest and law abiding, but we take a zero tolerance approach to the minority who think they can treat their tenants like this.

Original source

Kilburn Times